Thune Leads South Dakota Delegation in Dirty Energy Money

Since we're talking about tainted campaign contributions, let's look at polluted political money from Big Oil and Coal. An eager reader points me toward DirtyEnergyMoney.com, a fun website with lots of buttons to push. You can look up how much money your Congresspeople get from the fossil fuel lobby and others who want to keep America in the energy Dark Ages.

So how much money do our Congresspeople take from energy lobbyists in smoke-filled rooms fighting for a smoke-filled country?

1. Senator John Thune: $521,046 (22% from coal interests, 78% from Big Oil)
2. Senator Tim Johnson: $218,260 (61% coal, 39% oil)
3. Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: $72,450 (52% coal, 48% oil)

Alas, DirtyEnergyMoney.com only tracks current members of Congress, not candidates. You'll have to dig through Federal Election Commission records yourself to find the scuzzy money in Kristi Noem's war chest (though I've started a list here).
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Bonus BP-Boehner bash: DirtyEnergyMoney.com's numbers show that House Minority Leader John Boehner has taken $8000 in contributions from BP. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken $1000 in dirty BP money. The logical conclusion: John Boehner is eight times worse than Nancy Pelosi! ;-)